No. 3 Notre Dame women's basketball falls to No. 17 TCU in Cayman Islands Classic
Notre Dame sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo stood in front of a small collection of reporters in South Bend on Tuesday and told them no team in women’s basketball is invincible. Anybody can be beaten, Hidalgo said, including her own Fighting Irish.
That came to fruition for the first time this season Friday.
No. 17 TCU took down No. 3 Notre Dame, 76-68, in the Cayman Islands Classic. The Irish (5-1) led by as many as 14 and went into the fourth quarter up by 11. Then head coach Niele Ivey‘s team had its worst 10 minutes of the season, the Horned Frogs (7-0) had one of their best and the result was a total role reversal.
TCU started the final frame with a pair of three-point makes from senior guard Madison Conner. Graduate senior guard Hailey Van Lith backed her up with a strong bucket, and suddenly TCU was within two points. A few possessions later, the Horned Frogs took their first lead since it was 3-0 shortly after tip off at John Gray Gymnasium in George Town, Cayman Islands. It was all them from then on en route to winning the fourth quarter 31-12.
“Credit to TCU,” Ivey said. “I thought they came out and played really good. Really smart game. Shot the ball well from three… Just didn’t think we played a complete game for 40 minutes.”
Notre Dame had too many uncharacteristic defensive breakdowns that afforded TCU easy lanes to the bucket and open jumpers. Credit to head coach Mark Campbell‘s team — his players cashed in on those opportunities. The Irish, meanwhile, did not cash in on much of anything late in the game. They finished the game 25 of 72 (34.7 percent) shooting from the floor as a team.
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Hidalgo was her usual impressive self in finishing with 27 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. Fellow guards Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron both scored in double figures, too, with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Notre Dame won the rebounding battle 38-26 and had four fewer turnovers than TCU, 16 to 12. An avalanche of poor play in the fourth overshadowed a whole lot of good play in the first 30 minutes.
Van Lith, a thorn in Notre Dame’s side in her three seasons at Louisville, led the way for TCU with 21 points, 7 assists and 3 rebounds. Forward Sedona Prince completely outclassed Notre Dame five-star freshman center Kate Koval as well. Prince had 20 points and 20 rebounds. Koval was 0 of 9 from the floor, finishing with 0 points and 6 rebounds. Irish graduate student forward Liatu King‘s 8 points and 13 rebounds weren’t nearly enough to match Prince either.
“Prince is playing really great basketball right now,” Ivey said. “She was a real problem for us. It’s a tough matchup; a vet, someone who has a ton of experience, against Kate. Kate got into foul trouble so she got kind of tentative, but I thought Sedona Prince played a really, really great game.”
There is no time for Ivey’s group to pout or search for pity. It’s right back to the court in the Cayman Islands Classic on Saturday against Utah (5-2). The Utes lost their first game in George Town 66-62 vs. Mississippi State on Thursday.
“Got to get back to the drawing board, having that game tomorrow,” Ivey said. “Have to regroup.”
